Clash of Civilizations, redefined

In this Newsweek story, Ms. Amina Chaudhary, the only Muslim to ever interview Samuel Huntington, seeks to correct the record regarding what Huntington really meant in his renowned book, Clash of Civilizations.  In that book, Huntington seemingly argued that the “Western” world and the “Islamic” world were on a collision course that could not be averted.  The book, written in the 1990’s, purported that while the “Iron Curtain” had fallen, a new curtain was developing between the West and the Islamic world.

Chaudhary argues, however, that Huntington was misunderstood.  The key quote from the interview is when Huntington says: 

The implication, which you say some people draw, is totally wrong. I don’t say that the West is united, I don’t suggest that. Obviously there are divisions within the West and divisions within Islam — there are different sects, different communities, different countries. So neither one is homogenous at all. But they do have things in common. People everywhere talk about Islam and the West. Presumably that has some relationship to reality, that these are entities that have some meaning, and they do. Of course the core of that reality is differences in religion.

Give the story a look.  The interview is linked as well.

Democracy in the Arab World

Our friends over at the National Endowment for Democracy’s (NED) Democracy Digest posted a link to this article the other day concerning the prospects for democracy in the Arab world.

The author, Michael Mandelbaum, observes three “barriers to Arab democracy”:

1. A lack of liberty;
2. The religious/ethnic diversity of Arab countries;
3. Anti-Western sentiments

While all three arguments are interesting (and I recommend reading the article), I am particularly interested in the argument concerning liberty.  In an explanation sure to please Fareed Zakaria, Mandelbaum argues that without liberty, democracy is meaningless. 

The author contends that the lack of liberty in the Arab world is the consequence of two factors: 1) the failure to establish a free market economy; and 2) the predominant interpretation of Islam in the region. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Islam and Democracy, Question Mark

The Economist has an interesting, though somewhat superficial, survey of the current relationship between Islam and Democracy in practice and theory.  It is worthy of a read.